


in the palm of your freezing hand

by surrenderer



Series: kylux advent calendar 2020 [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Compliant, Kylux Advent Calendar 2020, M/M, Missing Scene, Post-Battle of Starkiller Base (Star Wars), Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Starkiller Base (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:29:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28846107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surrenderer/pseuds/surrenderer
Summary: Hux has one task left: rescue Kylo Ren from Starkiller Base before it explodes and takes them with it.For Kylux Advent Calendar, Day 24: snowy forest
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: kylux advent calendar 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040882
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38
Collections: Kylux Advent Calendar 2020





	in the palm of your freezing hand

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 2020, but didn't have time to finish edits until now, oops. [Original thread here.](https://twitter.com/parttimewonders/status/1342243601808441344)
> 
> Title is from ["Ivy"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nIOx-ezlzA) by Taylor Swift.

“Ren, get up.”

Hux gets no response, other than a faint groan and a shudder.

“We have to go _now_ , Ren, the planet is collapsing around us.”

There are troopers with him, and a small command shuttle to whisk them away, and it would be so easy to return to the shuttle without Ren on board, to claim that he was dead when they found him, or that they couldn't find him at all. But the Supreme Leader demanded his extraction, so here they all are in this dark forest, with Starkiller trembling and collapsing under their feet all the while. Phasma and the others are in charge of the evacuation proceedings, but they’ll lose a large number of their people regardless. There’s no way to evacuate the planet with all of their forces intact before it explodes and takes all of them with it.

Every minute Hux spends here is a waste of precious time, so he needs Ren to _move_.

But Ren is conscious, barely, and severely injured, although his Force powers seem to be intact. The lone trooper who ventured too close to him got blasted backwards off his feet; he staggered upright after a moment, but now the others hang back warily, leaving Hux to approach him alone.

He braces himself as he gets closer, but nothing happens. So he takes a step, boots crunching in the snow, and then another, and then he can kneel down by Ren’s side to inspect the damage. He makes Ren tilt his head the opposite direction so he can see the extent of the lightsaber wounds better. None of them bleed, not even the burn on Ren's face, such is the nature of lightsaber wounds, but when Hux slides a hand under his shoulder to prop him up, Ren groans in protest.

“If you’d rather die here, be my guest,” Hux snaps. He is losing both time and patience, as is always the case when it comes to his co-commander. It’s a miracle how Ren is still such a thorn in his side while dying in the snow. “But the rebels found a way to destroy the weapon, and the whole planet is going to explode. If we don’t leave _now_ , it’ll take all of us with it.”

The words taste like ash in his mouth. His greatest achievement, consumed by fire and its own power, thanks to a lucky shot. But allowing himself to go down with the proverbial ship rather than face the consequences would be a kindness, and Hux has never been a kind man.

He will see this entire mess through, even if the Supreme Leader sees fit to eliminate him afterwards.

Ren fights him as he pulls him up into a seated position, because he seems happy to meet his end here, but Hux will not let him die before they face Snoke. They both must answer for their failures. Somehow, the rebels penetrated the defenses on the base while Hux was distracted, assured of his own victory, while Ren went chasing after ghosts. The Supreme Leader has punished them both before for lesser offenses than this one.

Trees in the distance start crashing down and the snowy wind whips harshly against Hux’s face; his hat is long gone, sacrificed to the forest, and his gloved hands slide against Ren’s damp robes as he holds him upright.

But he beckons the troopers forward with the stretcher, and with their help, he gets Ren on it. Ren is either too fatigued to fight them more or he's finally gone unconscious from the pain, but Hux doesn't care. His goal is to get Ren, alive, to the _Finalizer_ for treatment, and then to the _Supremacy_ , and there they may be able to salvage something from this wreckage, even if it's simply the destruction of all the Resistance forces. It won’t make up for the loss of Starkiller, but it’ll be a step in the right direction.

The rescue group barely makes it onto the shuttle before the trees in this section of the forest begin shaking and shuddering and collapsing around them, and so the pilot gets them off the planet and into the vastness of space. Thankfully, they make the jump into hyperspace before Hux has to watch his weapon destroy itself.

There is one med-droid on board, armed with nothing but a woefully inadequate first-aid kit, but Hux sets it to taking care of Ren anyway once they’ve all settled. The troops have returned to their stations at the back of the shuttle, while Ren's stretcher takes up most of the empty space where additional units would've been. Hux watches as the droid bustles around its sedated patient once more before declaring that there is nothing more to be done until they’ve reached the _Finalizer._ It settles into its rest mode in the corner, ready to be activated again at a moment’s notice.

So there is no one, not a single person or droid, to see Hux sit down next to the stretcher and place a bare hand over Ren's.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/parttimewonders) and [Tumblr](https://part-timewonders.tumblr.com/) a lot.


End file.
